Opinion
7:02-CV-084-R
April 24, 2002
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Petitioner, an inmate confined in the Allred Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Iowa Park, Texas, brings this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. Huddleston claims that he was denied effective assistance of counsel and denied due process in a disciplinary action brought against him by officials at the Alllred Unit. As a result of the disciplinary case, Huddleston was placed on 45 days of recreation, commissary and property restriction, his prison classification level was reduced and he forfeited 90 days of good time credits. Petition ¶ 18.
For the following reasons, Petitioner is not entitled to habeas relief. Huddleston has no constitutionally protected interest in his custodial classification. See Luken v. Scott, 71 F.3d 192, 193 (5th Cir. 1995) (recognizing that "[t]he loss of the opportunity to earn good-time credits, which might lead to earlier parole, is a collateral consequence of [an inmate's] custodial status" and, thus, does not create a constitutionally protected liberty interest), cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1196, 116 S.Ct. 1690 (1996). Similarly, the temporary loss of recreation, commissary and property privileges presents no issue of constitutional magnitude. Inmates generally do not have protected liberty interests in their privileges. See Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472, 484, 115 S.Ct. 2293, 2300 (1995) (holding that a prisoner's liberty interest is "generally limited to freedom from restraint which imposes atypical and significant hardship on the inmate in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life."). The 45-day privilege restrictions imposed against Huddleston do not represent atypical and significant hardships in relation to the ordinary incidents of prison life.
Huddleston concedes that he is not eligible for mandatory supervised release. Petition ¶ 16. Therefore, his good-time credits do not represent a constitutionally protected liberty interest. See Madison v. Parker, 104 F.3d 765, 769 (5th Cir. 1997) (holding that the state may create a constitutionally protected liberty interest requiring a higher level of due process where good-time credits are forfeited in a disciplinary action against an inmate eligible for mandatory supervised release). Absent some constitutionally protected liberty interest, due process does not attach to a prison disciplinary proceeding.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the petition for writ of habeas corpus is DENTED.